Worshippers £scape as f!re guts church, Kwara complex b√rnt
A devastating fire, on Friday night, engulfed a parish of the Christ Apostolic Church in Ibadan, Oyo State, reportedly trapping several worshippers inside.
Similarly, a fire gutted a shopping complex in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, destroying property worth millions of naira.
The church fire incident occurred at about 9.30 pm at Wisdom Estate, Road 1G, Olohunda-Ada Road, in the Lagelu Local Government Area, sources confirmed to Sunday PUNCH on Saturday.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the church was hosting a yearly carol-cum-vigil when the fire incident occurred.
One of the sources said, “The incident happened in the night around 9:30 pm. I think they were having a Friday vigil. Some worshippers had already slept off to have some rest before the vigil when the incident happened.”
Another source described the harrowing scene, saying, “There was an aged woman, very old to the extent that she could not work properly. She was still inside the church when the fire was raging seriously.”
As of the time of filing this report, the exact cause of the fire remains unclear.
Confirming the incident, the General Manager of State Fire Services, Akinyemi Akinyinka, said, “Our men were there based on information from one Kunle Junaid.
“We received a distressed call at exactly 21: 50hrs on Friday, December 13, 2024, that the house was on fire at the above address. Immediately, the address was taken, a crew of personnel was deployed to the scene of the incident.
“On arrival at the place, it was an adjourning mission house already well alight. We quickly swung into action and restricted the fire from spreading to the main church building where the carol was going on during the fire incident.
“The mission house was affected by fire and we were able to save the main church building and other nearby buildings. No life was lost, property worth millions of naira was lost and we were able to save property worth billions of naira.”
He said investigation was still going on to know the root cause of the incident, adding that “the eye witness made us understand that during the incident, the yearly carol programme was going on at the main church building that the fire incident happened at the mission house where children were playing.
“It was likely to be that the children were playing with fireworks unattended to,” he explained.
In another development, no fewer than 22 rooms were destroyed in a fire incident which occurred Saturday afternoon at Haruna Kannike Shopping Complex, Ipata, Ilorin, in Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The fire incident which started at about 3pm affected the shopping complex comprising 44 rooms and 25 shops.
Household items including beds, beddings, furniture, electronics, and cooking utensils were destroyed in the inferno, according to an eyewitness account.
The fire was reportedly caused by a power surge after power restoration in the area, even as residents endured about one week of total darkness in the area.
The state Fire Service which confirmed the incident in a statement signed by the Head of Media and Publicity, Hassan Adekunle, said that about 22 rooms were destroyed in the fire incident.
On Saturday, December 14, 2024, at 13:10 hours, the Kwara State Fire Service responded promptly to a distress call reporting a fire incident at Alhaji Haruna Kannike Shopping Complex, Ipata Market, Ilorin, Kwara State.
“A fire truck and crew arrived swiftly at the scene to combat the blaze in the two-storey building housing 25 shops and 44 rooms. Upon arrival, the fire had already engulfed some rooms on the upper floor.
Adekunle said both the state Fire Service and the Federal Fire Service combined to put out the fire to curtail its spread to adjourning buildings.
It said, “The firefighters contained the blaze, extinguished it completely, and prevented it from spreading to other parts of the market. While 22 rooms were affected, 22 others and all 25 shops were successfully saved.”
